Wild Bloom (风吹半夏) has a really high rating in mainland China. Hence, it is hard not to give it a try although it doesn’t seem to have garnered much attention internationally. I guess different viewers from different countries will have their own unique preferences. After watching the drama, I can also understand why this production may not appeal to international viewers. Nevertheless, I think it does have its strengths and it certainly has a far better story than the usual romance dramas. Feel free to scroll down and check out my Wild Bloom review below for more.
My rating: 8/10
Episodes: 36
Type: Business
Aired: November 2022
Images Credit: iQIYI Taiwan Facebook
The Cast Of Wild Bloom
- Zhao Li Ying as Xu Ban Xia
- Ou Hao as Tong Xiao Qi
- Huang Cheng Cheng as Chen Yu Zhou / Xiao Chen
- Li Guang Jie as Zhao Lei
- Liu Wei as Wu Jian She
- Ren Zhong as Feng Yu
- Feng Jia Yi as Qiu Hua Zheng
- Song Xi as Guo Qi Dong
- Wang Jin Song as Xu You Ren
- Sun Qian as Gao Xin Yi / Ye Mao (Wildcat)
- Ke Lan as Gao Yue Jin
- Shi An as Lao Su / Dr. Su
- Wang Xi as Zhou Qian
Main Characters
Xu Ban Xia
Ban Xia is a co-owner of a junkyard in Binhai. She buys bits and pieces of scrap metal to be resold. She is a college graduate with big dreams to succeed in the steel industry. Ban Xia can be very stubborn, persistent, and determined. She is also courageous and a risk taker. Ban Xia is kindhearted but will retaliate when bullied. She is a divorcee. Her mother died after giving birth to her and she isn’t particularly close to her father.
Tong Xiao Qi
Xiao Qi is a truck driver at a factory. He has just got his license and is a poor man in need of money for his mother’s medical treatment. Xiao Qi can be impulsive and uncultured but loyal and protective. He is respectful of Ban Xia who is like a big boss and family to him although he did have a crush on her initially.
Chen Yu Zhou / Xiao Chen
Xiao Chen and Ban Xia grew up together and care for each other like family. He is Ban Xia’s co-partner in the junkyard business but looks up to her as the leader. Xiao Chen is patient and amicable. He handles the nitty-gritty details of the the business operations. Xiao Chen tends to hide his difficulties and business problems from Ban Xia so as not to worry her unnecessarily.
Zhao Lei
Zhao Lei is educated overseas and has just returned from abroad to head the China branch of an international steel manufacturing company. He is a sharp and experienced businessman in the steel industry. He is business-minded and a tough negotiator who takes calculated risks.
Supporting Characters
Wu Jian She
Wu is the owner of a steel sheet manufacturing company. He is also the big brother of the industry in Binhai. Wu sees himself as being responsible for the other players in the steel business but will also take the biggest share of the pie in any business deal.
Feng Yu
Feng Yu has a steel factory inherited from his wife’s family. His wife is the joint owner and in charged of the factory’s daily operations while he is responsible for the networking. Feng Yu is not particularly ambitious and tends to follow Wu’s lead. He also has a mistress, Bao Er, whom he adores.
Qiu Hua Zheng
Qiu is the owner of a steel plate manufacturing company. He is shrewd and will use sleazy practices to extract maximum benefit for himself. Qiu can be selfish and greedy. Together with Wu and Feng Yu, they are the main players in the steel business in Binhai. They are friends as well as business associates.
Guo Qi Dong
Guo is Qiu’s subordinate and trusted ally. He is a very capable and talented executive who helps Qiu to manage his factory. However, he can be sneaky and dishonest.
Xu You Ren / Father Xu
Father Xu is Ban Xia’s father. After Ban Xia’s mother died, he remarried and has a young daughter with his current wife, Liu Mei Lan. Father Xu and Ban Xia don’t really get along well. They tend to contact each other only when there are money issues to discuss with Father Xu often getting caught in between his wife and Ban Xia.
Gao Xin Yi / Ye Mao (Wildcat)
Xin Yi is a rebellious young woman who has just graduated from college. She is always quarreling with her mother regarding her life direction. Xin Yi is stubborn and doesn’t like to be controlled. She has interest in Xiao Qi.
Gao Yue Jin
Gao Yue Jin is a senior government official and committee member of the provincial heavy duty manufacturing sector. She is upright in discharging her duties but strict. Xin Yi is her only daughter but they find it hard to get along.
Lao Su / Dr. Su
Dr. Su is a general surgeon at the local hospital in Binhai. He lives in the same neighborhood as Ban Xia and is attracted to her. Dr. Su is a kind and thoughtful man. He also has a younger brother, Xiao Su, who is an IT graduate.
Zhou Qian
Zhou Qian is supposedly a fashion designer in a clothes manufacturing company who is introduced to Xiao Chen by a matchmaker.
Synopsis
In 1991, Ban Xia and Xiao Chen were scrap metal traders with a small junkyard. A chance meeting with Xiao Qi who was in desperate need of money to treat his mother’s illness resulted in a deep friendship after a risky but successful scrap metal collection. Due to a fight with Ban Xia’s cheating husband, Xiao Qi was subsequently jailed for 5 years.
Fast forward to 1997, Xiao Qi was released from prison. Ban Xia and Xiao Chen had been working tirelessly to build their scrap metal business. With Ban Xia’s networking and resourcefulness, she managed to get close to the leaders of the steel industry in the city. Her initial aim was to get onboard a deal with these manufacturers to import scarp metal from Russia.
But as Ban Xia tried to build her business, she faced numerous obstacles along the way. Together with Xiao Chen and Xiao Qi, the 3 of them remained loyal to each other and the dream to have their own steel mill. From being scammed to threats of bankruptcy to the ups and downs of their personal lives, they had to weather hardships, regrets, and loss to achieve their dream.
Wild Bloom Ending (Spoilers Alert!)
Wild Bloom has a neutral ending. It comes full circle with Ban Xia and Xiao Qi owning up to their wrongdoing of polluting the tidal land and then taking advantage of the situation. The polluted land had destroyed the villagers’ livelihood and they were then forced to lease it to Ban Xia’s company for her to build her storage yard. Although Ban Xia wasn’t involved in the pollution, she still felt guilty that her success was built on the villagers’ misfortune and environmental destruction caused by Xiao Qi and Xiao Chen.
Since the guilt has been eating into their conscience, she and Xiao Qi turn themselves in to the authorities at the end of Episode 36. The drama ends with a narration that both Ban Xia and Xiao Qi are sentenced to a year’s jail with a year’s reprieve. The light sentence is due to their admission of guilt and compensation to the villagers which the company will have to continue to bear.
When Did The Couple Get Together?
Zhao Lei agreed to work for Ban Xia temporarily in Episode 15 after resigning from his previous company. She was persistent in getting him to help her. One of his tasks was to ensure that she could win the bid for the state’s steel mill that was being put up for auction. Ban Xia and Zhao Lei got together in Episode 19 when he went to look for her in another city as he was worried about her safety.
In Episode 23, Zhao Lei represented Ban Xia to bid for the steel mill. However, he refused to bid further against Ban Xia’s instruction when the price hit $50 million. This angered Ban Xia who told Zhao Lei to get lost. Zhao Lei left an apology letter for Ban Xia before moving to Shanghai. He explained that he foresees that the steel mill will lose much value within 3 years due to the old equipment. Hence, it wasn’t worth the money and would just get her into trouble. Ban Xia then flew to Shanghai to reconcile with Zhao Lei in Episode 24.
The couple maintained a long distance relationship as Zhao Lei preferred to work in an international company in Shanghai. He told Ban Xia so in Episode 27. Since neither of them would compromise and change for each other, Ban Xia decided that it is best to break up in Episode 28. But they immediately regretted as they couldn’t let go of each other. Zhao Lei proposed to Ban Xia then and they had their wedding in Episode 32.
Xiao Qi & Xin Yi
Xin Yi confessed her feelings to Xiao Qi in Episode 9 and they became a couple. She told her mother that she is dating Xiao Qi in Episode 12. The couple quarreled over Xin Yi’s reformation plan for their trucking company in Episode 19. She left him in Episode 20 but he wooed her back in Episode 22.
Xiao Qi wrote up his bucket list in Episode 25 which included marrying Xin Yi. She saw the list and and asked him about his plan to marry her in Episode 26. Xiao Qi immediately proposed to Xin Yi who said yes. However, the proposal turned sour after Xin Yi mentioned that she wanted to accept an offer to study in the US. Xiao Qi didn’t think marriage is necessary then which disappointed Xin Yi. She asked for a breakup in Episode 27. Xiao Qi then decided to sell the trucking company and move to the US with her. Xin Yi’s heart melted and she decided to marry Xiao Qi.
The couple got married in Episode 28. Xin Yi fell pregnant in Episode 29 but wasn’t happy about it as it would derail her plan to study abroad. After an initial disagreement with Xiao Qi about the pregnancy, Xin Yi decided to keep the baby in Episode 31 and became a mother.
Xiao Chen’s Ending
Xiao Chen was the one who came up with the idea to pollute the tidal land while Xiao Qi was responsible for carrying it out. After the incident, Xiao Chen had never stop regretting what they had done. He helped with the clean up. Xiao Chen was also constantly at the site during the construction of their storage yard and other facilities and was exposed to the pollutants.
In Episode 13, he started dating Zhou Qian whom he met on a blind date. He fell deeply in love with her. But Zhou Qian was out to fleece men as she was controlled by her cousin brother who ran a marriage scamming syndicate. She broke up with Xiao Chen in Episode 15 because she didn’t have the heart to hurt a good man. But Xiao Chen didn’t mind her background and confessed his love for her in Episode 16.
As Xiao Chen suffered from a blood disorder which caused him to have generally weaker health, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Ban Xia knew Xiao Chen didn’t have long to live. So, she hired Zhou Qian to date Xiao Chen in Episode 16. She just wanted Xiao Chen to be happy in his remaining days. But Zhou Qian also had feelings for Xiao Chen and grew to love him. She decided to sleep with him in Episode 19.
Xiao Chen died in the summer of 1999 in Episode 25. He left Zhou Qian money which she refused to accept from Ban Xia. Zhou Qian simply wanted to start anew and forget all the pain. She chose to return to her hometown. In the winter of 1999, Ban Xia built a school for the villagers affected by the pollution and officiated its opening. It was what Xiao Chen had wanted.
Wu’s Fate
When the state wanted to privatize Steel Mill No. 2, Wu won the bid in partnership with Qiu and Feng Yu in Episode 23. But he overpaid for it due to a bidding war with Zhao Lei who raised the price but had no intention to buy it on Ban Xia’s behalf due to its obsolete equipment. The mill subsequently ran into operational problems and treating the waste water became too expensive.
When Ban Xia started building her own steel mill, Wu knew his inefficient operation will not be able to compete with hers when it opens. Hence, he tried to fulfill as many orders as possible in the short time window that he had and disregarded environmental concerns to recoup his investment. However, the pollution was still exposed and Wu was forced to close down the mill. He asked Ban Xia to take over from him in Episode 28. But he hid the fact that the state still had some rights over the mill’s assets.
When Ban Xia took over, she disposed off the old equipment and merged Wu’s steel mill with her own operations. She also generously gave Wu, Qiu, and Feng Yu some shareholdings in the merged entity in a joint effort to further build the company. Wu’s selfish omission about the asset rights came back to haunt him when their merged company was accused of defrauding the state with the disposal of the old equipment in Episode 34. Wu thought Ban Xia would sacrifice him to save herself and the company. When she didn’t, he was moved and took responsibility to ensure the company remained viable. He surrendered to the authorities in Episode 36.
According to the narration, Wu is sentenced to a year’s jail with a year’s reprieve for pollution as well as suspected fraud while running the steel mill.
Qiu’s Fate
Qiu’s action of asking Guo to take the blame for the irregularities in his company didn’t quite sit well with the latter. When Qiu rejected Guo’s request to employ him back once he is released from prison, Guo is angered in Episode 32. Qiu gave him the excuse that he is now working for Ban Xia and had no say.
When the authorities started to be more stringent in ensuring companies follow rules and regulations, Ban Xia, Wu, Qiu, Feng Yu, and Guo were accused of smuggling scrap metal. This is because there is a quota for scrap metal imports for each company. When the group first went to Russia with the intention to buy a large amount of scrap metal, they incorporated many subsidiaries and bought quota rights from others to get around the ruling. This wasn’t illegal then.
Thus, if all of them deny any wrongdoing, they should be declared innocent. Guo wasn’t cooperative and admitted guilt. Qiu pleaded with Guo to stand together. While emptying his glasses of alcohol to show his sincerity, Qiu collapsed as he shouldn’t be drinking because of health issues in Episode 34. He had a stroke and after a surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain, he became bedridden and unable to talk properly.
Guo’s heart softened after meeting Ban Xia who advised him not to destroy his own conscience because of hatred and grudge. He also went to the hospital to look at Qiu. Guo retracted his guilty plea in Episode 36 and made peace with Qiu.
Feng Yu’s Fate
Feng Yu’s wife asked for a divorce in Episode 13 since he didn’t love her and had a mistress. She left him to run the factory but he didn’t have much drive and ambition to manage it well.
Bao Er’s mother forced Feng Yu to marry her daughter to give the latter a legal title after his divorce. So, Feng Yu and Bao Er had their wedding in Episode 15. The honeymoon phase did not last long though as the couple often quarreled over the way Bao Er managed the factory. Bao Er also didn’t agree with Feng Yu’s plan to sell the factory and retire to a quiet life in the village. They divorced in Episode 17. Feng Yu then went into retirement and became a minor shareholder in Wu’s and later, Ban Xia’s company.
Wild Bloom Review – A China-Centric Drama
Wild Bloom is actually a pretty engrossing drama to me. But I have to admit that its theme and story are very China-centric. That is why I think it is hard to make it appeal to international viewers. The story begins in 1997 but with flashbacks that date back to 1991. So, the whole story takes place between 1991 to 2002. It has a very 90’s feel which is reflected in the details such as the mobile phone models, dressing style, and cityscape. Even the songs in the drama are hits from that era in China. Hence, I think it gives Chinese viewers a sense of nostalgia which other viewers may not be able to relate as much.
In addition, there is also an element of propaganda and reference to the rapid opening up of the economy during that period. The drama is set during the time when China is quickly transforming into a capitalistic society and huge moneys can be made. And with that, you will also find unscrupulous businessmen who only care about profits. So, the overall setting has a China-focus from the recent past. This is not something that will find broad appeal unlike a romance drama like She And Her Perfect Husband and Lighter And Princess whereby everyone can relate to it. Thus, it shouldn’t be surprising then that Wild Bloom becomes a boring drama for some.
A Business Drama With Little Romance
Wild Bloom is not a drama that you watch for the romance. It is a serious business drama and the romance is merely a side dish. There is nothing dramatic about the protagonists’ love story. Yes, they do quarrel and there are ups and downs. But the drama doesn’t focus on their relationships. So, you won’t find sweetness and fluff here. The female lead is an independent and matured woman. Silly antics of making the guy jealous or sitting around moping non-stop when the relationship isn’t going well doesn’t exist in this drama.
Instead, the screen time is used to develop the business aspect of the story. It is basically a story of a young woman’s arduous climb to be a successful steel miller and businesswoman in a male-dominated industry where seniority matters more than talent. It is a rags-to-riches story of sort. You will be rooting for her all the way due to her sheer determination to succeed. You can feel her blood, sweat, and tears. The story is also captivating because of the ups and downs the business has to endure that you don’t know what will come next.
Hence, Wild Bloom is a plot-driven drama. The story is well-written and executed. However, the characters are flawed and not all likable.
Business-Minded Characters
In the drama, only the friendship among the few on the same side of the fence is true and sincere. The friendship among the business associates is based on what they can get out of each other. Hence, everyone is calculative and sneaky. When push comes to shove, they will sacrifice others to save themselves. So, these characters are both friends and rivals because money rules.
I think not everyone will find this story appealing precisely because the characters are complex with no one being all good or all bad. The female lead will still work with these unethical people time and time again because they need each other to survive and grow. If you subscribe to the idea of having no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interest in the business field, then Wild Bloom will resonate with you. Otherwise, it is hard to relate to the drama especially in the second half when the female lead chooses to make peace with her rivals and those who have hurt her to get a win-win outcome.
Great Acting
Zhao Li Ying is perfect as Ban Xia. She looks much better and convincing here with her acting than she did in Legend Of Fei. She gives Ban Xia a toughness and confidence that fits the character. Her expressions are on point and there are no over-exaggeration in those emotional scenes. The tears just flowed naturally when they should without being over dramatic.
The rest of the cast also performed admirably. All of them gel together very well in their different roles. You just can’t picture anyone else playing these characters. Although they may only be supporting roles, the acting is of high standard. With many of them being veteran actors, it is easy for them to get into their character and bring out their unique personalities.
My Verdict – Only If You Like Business Drama
My guess is if you like The Ideal City, you would probably like Wild Bloom. Both have a strong female character striving for success in a toxic environment. The difference is one is an employee trying to make it in the corporate world while the other is building her own business. As mentioned, don’t pick Wild Bloom for the romance. 90% of the story is dedicated to the business side of things. Hence, watch this only if you like business dramas.
The first few episodes could be a bit slow as we are introduced to the characters. But the story will pick up quickly thereafter. The start could also give you a retro vibe which you may find too old-fashion and hence, boring. In that sense, the story needs a little time to grow on you. Personally, I wasn’t attracted to the drama on my first impression. I only started to get engrossed after about 8 episodes in.
For this Wild Bloom review, I would rate it 8/10. It is more suited for mature audiences who can appreciate life struggles and trade-offs in the quest to find success. Watch it for the plot as well as the acting. Ignore the bits of propaganda and China-centric setting and you will enjoy the story better. It is also a drama that will make you reflect on capitalism and greed. The characters are as close to reality as you can get with their flaws and pretenses all in the name of making money which is what makes this drama riveting.
in Indonesia, this drama is not very popular, but zhao liying’s fans like it.